Thursday, March 12, 2015

Eat, Leo! Eat! by Caroline Adderson and Josee Bisallion

A hyphenated Italian child not wanting to eat his lunch, an Italian grandmother wise
with tricks to get the boy to eat, stories to engage the child (and the
reader), and beautiful illustrations to engage the eye:what is there not to like about Eat, Leo! Eat?

There is also a list of 16 Italian words used in the book, with
pronunciation guide and meaning for each word.And a page about pasta, depicting many varieties, giving their
name in Italian and providing a pronunciation guide.

The author portrays a large, extended hyphenated Italian
family enjoying a Sunday meal each week, with the matriarch of the family,
Nonna, taking the lead with dealing with difficult Leo.She has the support of the whole family.

Psychology proves better at disciplining Leo than any other
method.He grows to beg for the stories,
which are actually the continuation of one story, while he eats lunch with his
loving family.

"He's hungry for stories," Babbo jokes.

The setting for the story-with-the-story is Italy.

Things progress to the point where Leo actually helps with
the making of Sunday lunch's fresh pasta.The images offer lots of little details for children to enjoy while the
story is being read to them.

Even the
pasta maker is depicted!

The illustrations fit the text perfectly.The artist manages to convey the emotions of
each character:the determined
orneriness of Leo, the patience of Nonna, the amusement of Mamma...

Once there was a little boy who went to see his nonna.He went at night.But at night the world looked so dark and
different."I wish, I wish,"
he said, "that there was a light to see by." Then he looked up and
what did he see?"

"Stars?" Leo asks.

"Yes, stelline," Nonna says. "A thousand of
them. Now mangia, Leo."

From the book's description:

Leo wants no part of sitting down with his family to eat
Nonna's big, delizioso lunch every
Sunday. "I'm not hungry," he
insists. Not hungry? Hmm. Clever
Nonna gets an idea. She'll use a story
to lure Leo to her table. And since the
pasta in her soup, called stelline
(little stars), is woven into the story about a boy who journeys to his
grandmother's at night, it works.

But again on the following Sunday, Leo doesn't want to eat. So Nonna expands her story, this time adding
some chiancaredde (paving stones),
the name of the pasta she's serving that day, to create a path for her
character to follow. Now Leo's hooked. So much that he begins to badger Nonna every
Sunday to reveal more pasta-based details of the story.

And week by week, as Leo's relatives crowd around listening
to Nonna and teasing Leo to get him to mangia
(eat), he slowly comes to realize just how happy he is to have a place at this
table.

In this heartwarming picture book, award-winning author
Caroline Adderson beautifully captures the love and tenderness Leo feels from
his grandmother and the rest of his close-knit family through lively,
true-to-life dialogue. The playful,
detailed artwork by Josee Bisaillon helps bring all of them to life.

This book offers a perfect framework for lessons exploring
the heritage, customs and relationships of families. The unique story-within-a-story concept, along
with the idea that Nonna's tale is being told cumulatively, could easily launch
a storytelling assignment. Additionally,
the section on pasta and the list of Italian vocabulary words make a great
introduction to foreign cultures through food and language.

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About This Review Site

I am Candida Martinelli, and I review books set in Italy or Ancient Rome, or about Italy and Italian culture, or about hyphenated Italian culture. My site is family-friendly. Authors and publishers please click the image to visit my Contact and Reviews page.

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Women's Fiction - Psychological Novel

A retired couple visit Venice. Review: "It read as a middle age marital crisis at first, then everything changed and I couldn't put it down." Review: "This charming story is an armchair visit to Venice that gives mature women renewed hope of second chance love and has a surprising twist to the mystery." Click the cover to go to the book's Amazon.com page.

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Gina Accornero's quiet life is threatened when the media invade her sleepy seaside town in search of a disgraced TV star, Robert Granieri. "This romantic tale...is spiced with a rich satire of the wired world we live in." Click the cover to go to the book's Amazon.com page.

Romance - Family Life Novel

Two hyphenated Italians find each other and love. "A Modern Multicultural Fairy Tale: This sweet modern romance is chock full of matchmaking and happy endings for everyone concerned, with the exception of the obligatory ogre, who gets his just desserts while the happy reader develops an inexplicable craving for bagels." Click the cover to go to book's page at Amazon.com.

Traditional Murder Mystery

A retired woman visits Italy and gets involved in murder. "An old-fashioned who done it with plenty of suspicious characters, set in modern day Italy." Click cover to go to book's page at Amazon.com.

Italophile Short Stories

Crime, murder and male-female relations, a la Daphne du Maurier. "well-crafted" and "unpredictable" Click image to go to the book's page at Amazon.com.

Crime-Romance Novel

An Italian Europol officer deals with crime and women. "...reminded me a lot of the show Criminal Minds" Click the cover to go to the book's age at Amazon.com.

Gilded Age 9-Book YA Mystery Series

Debutante Violet deals with family and crime in 1899 New York City. "I adored this sweet little book" Click the cover to go to the first book's page at Amazon.com.

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